Dubs "indirectly supporting the alcohol business"
March 10, 2015
At the announcement were Dublin hurler Niall Corcoran and footballer Phily McMahon. INPHO
Former GAA president Dr Mick Loftus has slammed Dublin's new sponsorship deal with Bavaria's non-alcoholic drink.
The three-year, multi-million-euro sponsorship deal with Bavaria 0.0 - a premium non-alcoholic malt - was negotiated by Rye River Brewing Company, which is the distributor for Bavaria, and will remain in place until February 2018.
Dublin GAA says the partnership with the brand is designed to encourage a healthy alternative to alcohol but Loftus, who was president of the Association between 1985 and '88 and is an outspoken critic of financial tie-ins with alcoholic companies, is not impressed
While understanding that Dublin GAA "need to get money from somewhere", the Mayo man - a coroner and GP, who has witnessed at first-hand the blight of alcohol abuse - once boycotted the All-Ireland when the GAA accepted sponsorship money from a drinks firm.
Loftus told The Irish Independent that he has "strong reservations of any sponsorship with a drinks company", adding: "I think that it is indirectly supporting the alcohol business."
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